


Only as Alone as I Want to Be

by tiniestmite



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [16]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Food Poisoning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:02:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28915059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiniestmite/pseuds/tiniestmite
Summary: It doesn’t take more than a few seconds after waking up for Carlos to realize he feels like shit. The way the sheets cling to his sweaty body indicate he must be running a fever and as soon as he rolls over, a wave of nausea washes over him.He thinks that if he lies still for long enough maybe it will pass.Or not.~Carlos is sick... but he's not alone.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984406
Comments: 9
Kudos: 137
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Carlos Reyes Week 2021





	Only as Alone as I Want to Be

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 5 of Carlos Reyes week, and for the food poisoning square on my bthb card

It doesn’t take more than a few seconds after waking up for Carlos to realize he feels like shit. The way the sheets cling to his sweaty body indicate he must be running a fever and as soon as he rolls over, a wave of nausea washes over him.

He thinks that if he lies still for long enough maybe it will pass. 

_ Or not. _

The next thing he knows, he’s rolling out of bed and making a mad dash towards the bathroom down the hall. 

As soon as he enters the bathroom, he all but collapses onto the floor in front of the toilet. He spends the next few minutes hunched over, emptying all contents of his stomach with only small moments to breathe in between. It keeps up until eventually he’s only dry heaving. 

Still sitting on the tiled bathroom floor, Carlos leans back against the wall and wipes the beads of sweat of his forehead. 

_ Shit. _

This is one hell of a stomach bug. He knows he should get up and go back to bed but he’s not sure if he can. The floor may not be comfortable, but the idea of exerting any amount of energy does not seem ideal at the moment. 

Eventually he musters up all the willpower he has left to push himself up off the floor and slowly makes his way back into the bedroom, collapsing face down onto the mattress.

Just as he thinks he’s about to fall into a deep sleep, he’s pulled from his restful state by the sound of his phone ringing. 

Groaning, he rolls over and looks at the caller id. He does a double take when it reads “Captain Owen Strand.” If he was taking bets, he would have thought it was the younger Strand calling him this morning and interrupting his peaceful sleep, over his father whose contact he only has saved for emergencies. 

“Hello?” he mumbles into the phone, hating how unprofessional he sounds but after the morning he’s had it’s the best he can do. 

_ “Hey Carlos, sorry to call you so early. Hope I didn’t wake you.” _

“No, it’s fine. Is everything okay?” he asks. He can only figure that the reason Owen is calling him isn’t for anything good. His heart sinks at the idea that something might be wrong with TK. After they had dinner together last night, TK had decided it was better for him to go back and sleep at his dad’s house since he had a shift tomorrow. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but then again, why else would Owen be calling him?

_ “Yeah everything is fine. It’s just,”  _ he hears Owen sigh on the other end.  _ “TK is not feeling well and I was able to find someone to cover his shift today but I still have to go in. So I was just wondering if you would be able to come over and keep an eye on him for me?” _

“Oh,” Carlos says, not being able to find anything else to say. What are the odds that both he and TK are sick? Regardless of how bad he’s feeling, he figures he can find enough strength to get out of bed and go take care of his boyfriend. If Owen is calling him, then TK must really not be feeling well. “Yeah of course, just hold on. I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

  
  
  


Entering the Strand home, he finds it eerily quiet. Owen had said that he would probably be gone by the time Carlos arrived but he would leave the door unlocked.

Once he found the energy to get out of bed, the drive there had not been that bad. Though his stomach still feels upset, and was beginning to cramp. But he powers through, ready to help his boyfriend in whatever way he needs.

“TK,” he calls out. Upon not getting a response, he ventures up the stairs and peaks his head into TK’s room. Scanning the room, he finds only an unmade bed and no sign of his boyfriend. 

Then he hears it. The unmistakable retching sound coming from the bathroom down the hall. Carlos knocks softly on the bathroom door but doesn’t wait for a response, slowly turning the knob. The sight of TK hunched over the toilet, just as he had been not even an hour ago makes his heart sink.

He finds it hard to believe that they are both so sick. Then again, with how much time they spend together he really shouldn’t be surprised.

Or maybe, he thinks it’s not actually a coincidence at all.

“Hey,” TK looks up and catches his eye. He gives a weak smile but it quickly fades as he takes in Carlos’ equally disheveled appearance. Carlos can practically see the gears turning in his head “You’re sick too? Huh. Weird.”

“Maybe not. Remember what we had for dinner last night?”

“Sushi?” TK looks at him quizzically, before realization dawns on him. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

_ Food poisoning. _

“Can I help you up?” Carlos offers, extending a hand to TK, which the other man graciously accepts.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I will be able to eat sushi ever again.”

“I hear you there,” Carlos chuckles lightly. The two men make their way back down the hall and into TK’s bedroom. 

They make themselves comfortable on his bed, and soon find themselves tangled in each other's arms.

“I’m sorry my dad called you to come check on me. I’m sure you would rather be in your own bed… and bathroom, for that matter.”

Carlos sighs and smiles. Of course his boyfriend is more worried about Carlos’ well-being than his own. “It’s fine, baby. If we’re both sick, why not be sick together?”

TK shrugs.

He begins to run his hands through TK’s hair and places a soft kiss on TK’s flushed temple. “There’s no place I would rather be right now. And no one I would rather work my way through food poisoning with than you. I promise.”

With that, TK smiles and Carlos pulls him closer. And that’s how they spend the rest of the day, curled up in bed together and taking turns running to the bathroom.


End file.
